‘The Bride!’ Review: Jessie Buckley and Christian Bale Electrify This Messy Monster Mash
The Bride!, directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal and starring Jessie Buckley alongside Christian Bale, is an odd and often messy reinterpretation of a horror classic that still remains an exciting watch. While much of the film is awkward, clunky, and sometimes even a little embarrassing, it is also stylish and striking, anchored by spectacular performances from two of our greatest living actors. At its best, the film captures lonely desperation and the surprising joy that love can bring to those who never believed it was possible. That romance between Buckley’s Ida and Bale’s Frank resurrects the spine of the film again and again, even when its objectives are muddy and half-baked.
Gyllenhaal’s film reimagines James Whale’s The Bride of Frankenstein, one of the most spectacular and beloved horror films ever produced and arguably one of the first cinematic sequels to truly outpace its predecessor. Whale’s film took what worked about Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and subverted it, transforming a gothic horror story into something fresh by focusing on loneliness and companionship among us monsters. Something that made that film especially fascinating was that it was directed by a queer filmmaker. The Bride of Frankenstein remains one of the queerest horror films ever made, quietly wearing that sensibility on its sleeve.
One of the biggest surprises about Gyllenhaal’s The Bride! is just how fun it is. In some ways, it feels like comfort food filmmaking. I wondered how self-serious the movie would be, and the answer remains somewhat unresolved. But the film is first and foremost a good time. It is stylish and visually striking, and it delivers impactful emotional performances from Buckley and Bale as two metaphorical creatures of the underworld who have nothing left. In their complete desolation, they find each other, and the romance that blossoms between them is beautiful and believable.
At the same time, audiences may struggle with the film’s earnestness and its complete lack of cool. Gyllenhaal does not seem particularly capable of chasing trends or appealing to younger audiences. The Bride! is embarrassingly on-the-nose at times, with stretches that may make viewers groan at its creative choices. The biggest issue is the film’s ongoing use of Mary Shelley herself as a narrative device. In the original Bride of Frankenstein, Shelley appears briefly to narrate the continuation of the story. Here, she functions as something like a purgatorial narrator inside Ida’s consciousness.
Unfortunately, this device simply does not work. Every time the performances begin to take hold and do something extraordinary, the film interrupts itself by having Shelley speak directly into Ida’s mind. The result is awkward and confusing, and yes, often embarrassing.
Another puzzling choice is the film’s decision to set the story in 1930s America. While that connects the movie to the era when Frankenstein was originally released, it becomes harder to justify once the story also invokes the real Mary Shelley, who wrote the book in the early nineteenth century. The film introduces gangster subplots involving mafiosos, crooked police, and corrupt politicians while attempting to say something about liberation during a time when women were beginning to find their voices. There is even a secondary plot about women having their tongues cut out and being silenced. At times, it gives the film a strange Batman quality, which is not helped by the fact that its co-star is Batman himself, Mr. Christian Bale. Ultimately, what The Bride! is trying to say feels muddled and convoluted.
Still, the performances remain a treat to behold. Buckley and Bale elevate the material simply by appearing on screen. Their characters are messy, vulnerable, grotesque, and complex, and there is a clear Bonnie-and-Clyde quality to their relationship. They are a doomed couple blazing toward destruction, but in the moment, they are alive in a way few people ever get to experience. For a brief time, these two dead characters are able to truly live.
The supporting cast adds additional energy. Annette Bening is funny and delightful as Pretorius, Penélope Cruz is magnetic as a detective constantly sidelined because she is technically just a secretary, and Anjelica Huston appears in a small but fun role. Jake Gyllenhaal also shows up as a Bing Crosby-like movie star whose films Frank becomes obsessed with, adding a layer of cinematic escapism that fits the film’s sometimes playful tone.
Even when The Bride! stumbles, it’s never boring. There are moments that are simply a blast to witness, including a dance sequence that is impossible not to watch with a grin. Visually, the film is a feast. From the costume design to Buckley’s striking makeup, the iconography is imaginative and distinctive.
Ultimately, those performances and that visual creativity carry the film through its rougher patches. The screenplay never fully grounds the movie or brings its ideas together into a cohesive whole. But despite its clunky writing and confused themes, The Bride! remains an entertaining and visually striking experience that delivers some of the most memorable performances in recent memory.
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The Bride!
Summary
That electric romance between Jessie Buckley’s Ida and Christian Bale’s Frank continuously resurrects ‘The Bride!’, even though its script is clearly half-baked.